The Megyn Kelly Show | Ep. 1214 | Megyn Reveals Her Candace and Erika Backstory, and Disturbing New Rob Reiner Son Details, with Ruthless
Date: December 16, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Megyn Kelly dives into three major stories dominating the headlines and the right-leaning political world:

• The latest, shocking developments in the Rob Reiner double murder allegedly involving his son, Nick Reiner.
• The escalating and highly public Candace Owens vs. Erika Kirk feud, with Megyn providing her personal backstory and role in trying to broker peace.
• An in-depth discussion of the explosive Vanity Fair profile on Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and its implications for conservative politics.
• Additional commentary and inside political banter from the hosts of the "Ruthless" podcast (Josh Holmes, John Ashbrook, Michael Duncan, Comfortably Smug) on topics including Brown University shooting developments and political media narratives.

The conversations are candid, emotionally charged, and often irreverent, with Megyn and the Ruthless crew blending commentary, personal insights, and critique of media coverage, all in their signature no-nonsense style.

1. Rob Reiner Double Murder & Nick Reiner Arrest

Segment starts: [53:02]

Main Developments

• Nick Reiner, son of director Rob Reiner and photographer Michelle Reiner, remains in custody, now on suicide watch after being charged with the gruesome murder of both parents.
• Details emerge of a loud public argument between Nick and Rob at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party just hours before the murders.
• New witness reports, including from Billy Bush, underscore the emotional devastation: Romy Reiner, Nick’s sister, found the parents. Critically, their mother allegedly named Nick as the killer before dying in the ambulance—a "dying declaration" admissible in court ([57:06]).
• Bail previously set at $4M was revoked; Nick was “not medically cleared” to appear in court.

Analysis & Notable Quotes

• The hosts reflect on the tragic trajectory of Nick Reiner, who struggled with drugs from early adolescence, and discuss the haunting limits of parental intervention—even for families of means and public profile.
• “Nobody is immune to the terrors of drug abuse… and a reminder I think, of like, you can be born into every privilege in the world, and drug addiction can still bring you down.” – Comfortably Smug [59:49]
• Megyn revisits a 2015 dinner (from a Hollywood Reporter piece) with the Reiner family, sharing chilling hindsight on Nick's resistance to recovery and Rob's desperate hope to “will” a happy ending via filmmaking ([67:02]-[74:21]).
• Hosts debate the effects of a Hollywood environment on children and parenting choices, agreeing that, “Don’t raise your kids around Hollywood. I think this is a degenerate place that’s full of drugs and prostitution and manipulating young people.” – Comfortably Smug [62:30]
• Megyn: “We have to take an honest look at where did this thing go sideways… you have to be totally attuned to your child’s behaviors before that demon gets a hold of him.” [62:09]
• On parenting: “Whatever cost you’ve associated with your family, it is much higher.” – Michael Duncan [80:15]
• The crew reflects deeply on the heartbreak, warning, and ultimate powerlessness faced by families dealing with addiction and mental illness.

2. The Erika Kirk – Candace Owens Feud: Megyn’s Role and Perspective

Segment starts: [01:01]

Main Developments

• Megyn details her position amid the public and heated feud between Candace Owens and Erika Kirk (widow of Charlie Kirk and new CEO of Turning Point USA):
  • She clarifies factual points (Owens did NOT directly accuse Erika of orchestrating Charlie’s murder, contrary to Ben Shapiro’s claims).
  • Both Candace and Erika went on media tours airing their grievances in the past week, with Erika pointedly saying “Stop” to Candace’s conspiracy mongering ([12:38]).
  • Megyn discloses she was tapped to help facilitate a meeting between the women, at Erika’s request; ultimately, a four and a half hour private meeting took place in Nashville, which both women characterized as "productive" in public statements.

Key Quotes & Tone

• “We are relentlessly factual here on this program. And she [Candace] had not done that at the time. As I pointed out at the time, she had impugned Turning Point.… That’s not the same as saying Erika Kirk.” – Megyn [06:08]
• “I have no obligation to you to hate the people you hate or try to bring down the people you want brought down… fuck off, okay?” – Megyn [15:38]
• On her role, Megyn is measured, refusing to pick sides: “My goal here… is to try to understand, yes, where Candace is coming from… but I love the Turning Point guys. And I don’t believe for one second any of them had anything to do with Charlie’s murder.”
• "This isn’t about me… it’s about those two. And I commend both of them." [17:09]
• She calls for peace and focus away from internecine fights for the conservative movement: "There are so many really important battles that we’re gonna have to fight together against the radical left."

3. Vanity Fair’s Susie Wiles Profile: Conservative Drama and Media Framing

Segment starts: [20:01]

Main Developments

• The group dissects a highly unflattering, 35-page Vanity Fair profile of Susie Wiles, Trump’s Chief of Staff and GOP power broker:
  • Wiles is quoted as calling J.D. Vance, the Vice President, “a conspiracy theorist for a decade”; contrasts his pro-Trump shift as purely political vs. Marco Rubio’s as sincere.
  • Susie Wiles also makes notable commentary about Trump (“an alcoholic’s personality… much more embellished than your average person”), Elon Musk (“an avowed ketamine user”), and targets other conservative figures.
  • She now disputes some of the more damning or personal quotes but the Vanity Fair reporter produced tape receipts.
  • Most damningly, Wiles is quoted as saying the Letitia James criminal case “might be the one retribution” (i.e., that the Trump White House views it as political revenge)—a statement that could impact legal proceedings ([22:04]).

Host and Guest Insights

• The panelists argue the “scandalous” quotes are often stripped of context and that the piece is clearly written with anti-Trump, anti-conservative animus—“anything you can say and do or quote is going to be framed in the worst possible way.” – Michael Duncan [25:18]
• Megyn: “You pose for a photo for Vanity Fair… The photography alone evidences the hatred this magazine has for all of the Trump administration.” ([44:27], referencing cruel photo choices of Wiles and Caroline Levitt)
• The news most in conservative circles: “If J.D. Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee and I will be one of the first people to support him.” – Marco Rubio via Vanity Fair, read by Megyn [30:20]
• The Ruthless crew downplays the potential fallout inside the administration: “I just kind of think it doesn’t matter anymore… The design of that piece was to try to pull them apart, and that is clearly not happening.” – Michael Duncan [102:08]
• J.D. Vance responded to being called a conspiracy theorist by saying, “I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true… it turns out a conspiracy theory is just something that was true six months before the media admitted it.” [100:50]

4. Brown University Shooting: Police Fumbles and Public Safety

Segment starts: [83:57]

Main Developments

• A shooting at Brown University left two dead and nine wounded; the shooter remains at large.
• Local officials (Mayor Brett Smiley and Attorney General Peter Narona) deliver divergent and confusing statements on whether a released person of interest is fully cleared ([85:15]–[86:12]).
• Megyn and the "Ruthless" team excoriate local authorities for unprofessional communication, fatigue (“We’ve been working 49 hours… We’re tired.” – Smiley [87:13]), and for poor surveillance evidence (“There’s better evidence of Bigfoot than that.” – Michael Duncan [94:30]).
• There are unconfirmed reports that one victim, Ella Cook, the College Republicans’ VP, was specifically targeted, raising concerns of political violence ([95:18]).
• Law enforcement disputes on whether the shooter yelled “Allahu Akbar”, and the hosts note a media reticence and potential left-wing bias in coverage.

Key Quotes

• “The guy needs to do his job and help this community who he was elected to serve.” – Josh Holmes on Mayor Smiley [86:56]
• “Would you send your kids to school this week in Providence, Rhode Island? Hell no.” – John Ashbrook & Michael Duncan [94:17]
• “As a reporter, do you have to justify your question… Just. Did he yell any. What did he yell? There are reports it was Allahu Akbar. Can you confirm that’s it? Get up and down on your question.” – Megyn [92:39]
• On possible political motivation: “When’s there gonna be consequences for targeting Republicans, for killing conservatives, for attacking them? When’s there gonna be the crackdown?” – John Ashbrook [98:06]

5. Other Topics & Memorable Moments

• RFK Jr. & Vaccine Policy: The crew debates media bias in coverage of RFK Jr.'s vaccine stances ([39:16]), especially around the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, discussing overreach in public health and the nuance that mainstream media ignores.
• Photo-shaming of Conservative Women: Megyn, referencing unflattering profile photos, highlights the mainstream media’s particular animus for conservative women (“the left… save[s] their most visceral hatred for conservative women” – Comfortably Smug [48:36]).
• Media Courage and Fact-Checking: Panelists note the importance of pushing back on leading questions and ensuring one’s side of the story is captured, especially in adversarial media settings.

6. Notable Quotes, Soundbites & Tone

• “Fuck off. Okay?” — Megyn to online critics [15:38]
• “The most insecure you’ll feel as a parent… knowing there are some things that are outside of your control.” — Comfortably Smug, on the grief of the Reiner tragedy [71:49]
• “I only believe in the conspiracy theories that are true.” — J.D. Vance [100:50]
• “Would you send your kids to school this week in Providence, Rhode Island? Hell no.” — John Ashbrook [94:17]
• “There’s better evidence of Bigfoot than that.” — Michael Duncan on blurry surveillance images [94:30]

7. Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:01]: Megyn's intro & Candace/Erika backstory
• [15:38]: Megyn’s direct response to critics on the feud
• [20:01]: Vanity Fair’s Susie Wiles profile discussion
• [53:02]: Rob Reiner murder updates & analysis
• [67:02]: Detailed reading of Hollywood Reporter dinner with Reiner family
• [83:57]: Brown University shooting and critique of official responses
• [100:50]: J.D. Vance responds to “conspiracy theorist” label

8. Conclusion

Megyn Kelly and guests deliver a highly charged, personal, and unfiltered episode, bringing together heated cultural and political conflicts, behind-the-scenes revelations, and powerful human tragedy. Whether discussing the tragic Reiner family case, the bruising infighting among right-wing media personalities, or the calculated bias of political journalism, the episode’s tone is fiercely forthright, skeptical of mainstream narratives, and ultimately grounded in calls for personal responsibility and community solidarity.

(End of summary)